Top Taliban leader killed in airstrike in Afghanistan

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A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate
of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an
airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the US
military said.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed on Tuesday by a US
airstrike while travelling by vehicle in a deserted area in the
southern province of Helmand, the US military said.

Osmani was the Taliban's chief military commander in southern
Afghanistan and played a "central role in facilitating terrorist
operations" including roadside bombs, suicide attacks and
kidnappings, the US said.

He was part of a group of "co-equals" at the top of the Taliban
leadership chain just under Omar, US military spokesman Colonel Tom
Collins said.

"This guy had been deeply involved in terrorist acts against the
people of Afghanistan, NATO and the government," Collins said. "He
was a top commander of Taliban operations in the south and now he's
no more."

Osmani was also in charge of the Taliban's finances, Collins
said.

Collins said Osmani had been "utilising both sides" of the
Afghan-Pakistan border, and that the US military had been tracking
him "for a while".

"When the time was right, and we thought we had a good chance of
hitting him without causing any harm to civilians, we struck," he
said.

Although the US said Osmani was an associate of bin Laden, Omar
and Afghan insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Collins said he
didn't know the last time Osmani had contact with any of the
three.

There was no immediate confirmation from Afghan officials, and a
purported spokesman for the Taliban could not immediately be
reached for comment.

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